Damage Roll Definitions

[Necroticplague]

A continuation from what was occurring in one of the RaW threads, because there turned out to be a bit of back-and-forth, and I'd like to continue, but don't believe that thread is the place for it

That's from the third-party Path of War splat, right? It seems that this stance just adds bonus fire damage, just like if you had a Flaming pistol. It doesn't actually convert anything to fire, so your gun is still doing P/B and Deadly Aim et al. work normally.
O.k, perhaps I worded things unclearly. I never thought any type of damage was getting turned into some other type of damage. I was merely thinking that if the whole thing (1d6 piercing/bludgeoning+xd6 fire) was the damage roll, then any bonuses to the damage roll could equally be said to apply to the fire as to the physical. So the fire damage isn't part of the damage roll?

[OldTrees1]

I was merely thinking that if the whole thing (1d6 piercing/bludgeoning+xd6 fire) was the damage roll, then any bonuses to the damage roll could equally be said to apply to the fire as to the physical.

Why would you think something like that?
Take a +1 Flaming Greatsword wielded by someone with 18 Str:
2d6 slashing (+6) (+1) (+1d6 fire) => 2d6+7 slashing +1d6 fire
The entire thing is the damage roll, but bonuses are typed based upon the default/base/original unless otherwise specified.

[Psyren]

Necrotic, I apologize for misconstruing your intentions in the RAW thread, but generally when I see people ask an broad/abstract question like "what is a damage roll," they aren't actually looking for a general answer; rather, they have a very specific situation in mind that they've already decided should work the way they want, and are just gearing up for a protracted brawl with anyone who doesn't share their interpretation.

As for your specific question - as OldTrees1 accurately pointed out, the fire damage is bonus damage, rather than being actually part of the weapon's damage. It works the same whether that bonus damage is coming from the Flaming property, Flames of the Faithful, this Solar Wind stance etc.

[Florian]

@Necroticplague:

Differentiate between "base", "bonus" and look up how "inheriting" works.

Class features, traits and feats that give a bonus damage or modify a bonus damage always work with the "base source" of the damage endless they give specific types on their own. From the "base" onward, some things, like damage types, can be inherited.

Example: Pistol Training and Point Blank Shot both work with the base weapon, a Pistol. Therefore, they inherit the pistols B/P physical stats and all their given boni are based on that.
If the Pistol was to deal energy damage like the Dragon Pistol, the boni given would inherit (fire) energy damage.

So Base > Modifiers > Bonus

In your case, the specific bonus you want to boost is already fire damage. You need some class feature, trait or feat that exclusively boosts fire damage when you want to upgrade it further.

Edit: I think this can be worked out cleaner....

Base Weapon: Plasmathrower (4d6 e and f)
Base Modifiers: +3 Weapon, +1d6 Corrosive (1d6 a), Weapon Specialization, Point-Blank Shot
Misc Modifiers: +2d6 Sneak Attack, Deadly Sneak Attack trick, Piercing Rays stance.

The calculation would work down this logical path:

Base (4d6 e and f)
Modified by +3 (+3 weapon, inherits e and f) modified by +2 (WepSpec, inherits e and f) modified by +1 (PBS, inherits e and f)
Bonus +4 f (Piercing Rays, stays typed) plus 1d6 a (Corrosive, stays typed)
Bonus Precision Damage +2d6 (Sneak Attack, now inherits a, e and f) +2 (Deadly Sneak, now inherits a, e and f)

And that now is your damage roll with the whole types and subtypes inherited and intact.

[Necroticplague]

Thanks for all the help. Though, just to side-comment, this seems to line up with the rules for critical hits quiet well. Put into terms of the previous post, critical hits seem to multiply all of Base and Modifier, but don't touch Extra, so they appear to slot into the second arrow.

[Florian]

Thanks for all the help. Though, just to side-comment, this seems to line up with the rules for critical hits quiet well. Put into terms of the previous post, critical hits seem to multiply all of Base and Modifier, but don't touch Extra, so they appear to slot into the second arrow.

In effect, Base and Modifier are one and the same thing. 1d8 and +2 are not kept separate but tied together to be 1d8+2. That´s why they´re multiplied for crits and also why inheriting works the way it does.

[Psyren]

In effect, Base and Modifier are one and the same thing. 1d8 and +2 are not kept separate but tied together to be 1d8+2. That´s why they´re multiplied for crits and also why inheriting works the way it does.

Correct - you should be parsing "1d8+2" as "ranging from 3-10". The modifier shifts the minimum further up, but it's still one damage range, and interacts with a critical hit just like the plain 1d8 ("ranging from 1 to 8") would.